#5 Race

Blog #5

1.
The first show that came in mind when I thought of gender and race diversity was American's Next Top Model. This is a reality show and features women as its focus. It is a fact that today's model industry is dominated by females, males only represent a minority. Even though there are some very successful male supermodels like Tyson Beckford and David Grandy, American's Next Top Model continues the "female-model" trend. However, males are entered into the few most recent seasons of the show. I think it is a very good idea to have males in the show. Not only does it make the show more interesting and the contest more intense, it adds more attention to the show because males are modeling in the show. I think this will attract males to watch to the show because males can finally see someone with the same gender as them in a show that has been dominated by females. It shows hopes and opportunities in the shows and the modeling industry for both females and males. I am happy that the show considered adding males to the contest. I think gender diversity is very important in the show because it changes people's thoughts and comment about the difference between genders. I think this show will change how people think of male modeling and be more open-minded about it. Generally speaking, gender diversity is very important in today's society. It is important because it changes how the society and media will portray certain gender. It affects the way people think and treat you. It also affects what kind of job you will get.

I personally think this show is somewhat racially diverse. Their contestants contains white, Asians, African Americans and etc. However, I think personally think they do not have many Asians throughout this show. I also think the result of each season is not diverse because it is usually a white female who wins. Even though this contest involves multiple votes from judges and fans, fan vote can be bias. People who vote could be biased because they like or dislike a certain race, or they have strong opinions on certain matter. Even though they have many diverse contestants, the progress of determining the winner does not seem racially fair to me. Furthermore, racial diversity is just as important as gender diversity for the same reasons.

2.
I personally do not think there are any racial stereotypes, but I do think there is gender stereotype. I remember in cycle 20 of the show there was a gay male who was always told by photographers and the judges that he needed to be more masculine. It was obvious that the expectation they had for male models was masculinity. I thought that was very gender stereotypical because males are always expected to be masculine and females are always to be feminine. However, I do not think they should have expectations like that because how they model depends on the product or company they are modeling for. Sometimes males models have to be a little feminine when they are modeling for someone or something that requires this quality. I think this show should not narrow their male requirement to only masculinity. I think something they could try to do in order to avoid gender stereotypes is to let opposite sex play opposite roles. Females could try to dress in male clothes and model, while males could model for cosmetics such as nail polish and facial products.